Golfers abilities wane with age and those have reached a certain age almost always acquire an affliction known among golfers as the yips. The yips is an inability to swing a putter as smoothly as in younger days and is thought to be of neuromuscular origin, associated with a decreased ability to control small muscles. Although it is common among older golfers, the yips can be acquired at surprisingly early ages. Until it happens, golfers usually believe this is an ailment of someone else.
The yips come in degrees of seriousness. In moderate cases, there is an inability to swing the putter smoothly. In some moderate cases, instead of the putter head swinging back smoothly and then swinging smoothly toward the ball, the putter head jerks backwards, usually off its intended line, and the actual forward stroke is something quite different from what was intended. After the putter head jerks backwards, all is lost and, if the ball actually rolls into the hole, it is pure luck. In other moderate cases, the putter head swings back smoothly but then jerks forwardly, off its intended line. Again, all is lost. Because there are so many individual variations and permutations, the reactions of any particular player will normally be unlike that of the next.
In more aggravated cases, there is almost an inability to bring the putter back. Some people are so bothered by the yips that it affects other easy or soft shots.
There have been many approaches to minimize the yips in an attempt to swing the putter head more smoothly. Bernard Langer is known for a putting grip in which the left hand grips the club and the right hand clamps the left forearm to the putter shaft. Sam Snead attempted to putt croquet style, i.e. astride the intended path of ball movement, and found it was illegal. Long handled putters are widely used by those with the yips or by those willing to try something different in an attempt to putt better.
A typical or standard set of golf clubs has the specifications shown in Table I:
TABLE I ______________________________________ lie angle, loft angle, club shaft length degrees degrees ______________________________________ driver 41-45" 55 7-13 2 wood 56 11-17 3 wood 56 13-18 4 wood 56 16-20 5 wood 57 18-23 1 iron 56 15-16 2 iron 36-39" 57 17-18 3 iron 58 19-20 4 iron 59 23-24 5 iron 60 26-28 6 iron 61 30-32 7 iron 62 34-36 8 iron 63 38-40 9 iron 64 42-44 pitching wedge 64 46-48 sand wedge 65 53-55 putter 30-40" 72 2-4. ______________________________________
The lie angle is the angle between the shaft and the ground, or between the shaft and the sole of the club, at the ball address position. The loft angle is the angle between the club face and a vertical plane extending through the club face at the ball address position, usually at the front edge of the club face. The ball address position is the position of the club head immediately behind the ball when the player takes a normal stance in preparation to strike the ball.
Disclosures of interest relative to this invention are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. D137,283; D179,246; 1,618,638; 3,416,798; 4,163,554; 4,512,583; 5,320,346; 5,458,335; 5,538,245; 5,544,879 and 5,547,196.